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Gift
In the Universe of Tortall, there are three types of magic; the Gift, the most common of magic, named for being a gift of the gods; the Sight, a subsection of the Gift that deals with true vision; and Wildmagic, which manifests as an being akin to a certain animal. In this article, the Gift will be discussed in length along with the Sight and Wildmagic, this is for two reasons; as a player you might run into a character who has one of these abilities and wish to know more, or you might be creating one and need some information as to what to put into your character’s profile; the second reason is that while the Sight and Wildmagic would be relatively unknown to your character, they will most certainly know what the Gift is and what it can do. Properties of the Gift The Gift is an all-purpose magic, meaning as long as someone is trained, they can likely perform a variety of different magical spells including protection, healing, divination etc. However beyond just the basics (and some Gifted people do not have the power to move beyond the basics) there is usually an area in which a Gifted person is especially talented in. The Gift manifests as an energy reserve of coloured fire in a person that can be depleted to be used for magic spells. That much is genetic, but body chemistry can amplify or expand the amount, while training can strengthen it and build it up. Some magic genetics are more dominate than others, thus resulting in a family line of colours, though with training and physical changes in a person, a colour of a Gift can change. Detection & Education There are two ways in which a Gift is detected. Either through natural means as a small child using their Gift on instinct or by people called Magic Sniffers, who also have the Gift that are talented at discovering the Gifts of others. Once a Gift is discovered, education and training becomes paramount for the person. A gift that is not controlled is a dangerous one that may cause destruction or property or death. There are two ways of training the gift; apprenticeship and schools. For schooling, there are likely many schools for magic training, the most significant ones are the City of the Gods in northern Tortall (which is run by Mithrans) and the University of Carthak, and the University of Port Udayapur. There are smaller schools and colleges elsewhere but not in the grand, expensive, tradition as the two mentioned above. Magical apprenticeships are common, although the quality of education is less even than Universities that rely on examinations. Apprentices move in with the master and learns to use the Gift while assisting with whatever projects the master is engaged in. Some masters will set up their own informal school. Mages from a university or the City of the Gods earn robe colours that are an accurate measure of magical abilities. These are much like the ranks in a guild; white for a novice; yellow for adepts; red for mastry; black robes are very very rare. A robe with the colour as a wide band would mean they were a journeyman in their course of study while a solid colour robe indicated mastry of that rank. Mastry is usually not attempted until a mage is in their mid-twenties. At the City of the Gods (which is a theological university) Mithran masters were black and gold robes to show their connection to Mithros. Uses of the Gift At the basic level, the Gift is fire and light, these are usually the first thing a student learns to summon. A gifted person is shielded from the magic sight of someone else through his or her magic. The Gift can be used for a myrid of uses including but not limited to; healing (both humans and animals), war magic, cooking, scrying, seeing, shielding, moving objects, weather magic, communication over long distances, and shape shifting. One usually has a specialty that they are especially talented in. Replenishing the Gift One only has so much Gift available to them and if they try to use more than they are granted by the gods, they end up using their own life force, putting them at risk of death. To gain back one's gift, one just must wait, thought rest, relaxation, and meditation may all help replenish it. Category:Magic Category:Information Category:Article